Strigidaeフクロウ科fukurō ka

鸱鸮科chī-xiāo kē

鴟鴞科chī-xiāo kē

올빼미과olppaemi-gwa

General

Information is from dictionaries and other sources. Species list may not be current. Korean glosses are tentative. Comments and corrections welcome. Hover over Green LetteringGreen lettering at this site hides a tool tip with glosses, further explanations, etc. Hover cursor to reveal. to see additional information.

In everyday language, the broad term for all kinds of owl is フクロウfukurō (occasionally フクロfukuro), written with the character 梟. As a species name フクロウfukurō ornithologically refers to Strix uralensis, the Ural Wood Owl.

More strictly, owls in Japanese can be divided into:

a) ズクzuku or ミミズクmimi-zukueared zuku', which have 'ears' (耳mimi), and

b) フクロウfukurō, which do not.

This distinction is not absolute -- some 'earless' owls are also called mimi-zuku. Mimi-zuku most commonly refers to the Collared Scops Owl (ō ko-no-ha zuku'large leaf owl').

The writing of mimi-zuku and zuku in Chinese characters is a convoluted affair.

1) They can be written with the characters 木兔'tree-rabbit' (read mù-tù in modern Mandarin), an old Chinese name for the eared owls not found in modern Chinese dictionaries. While the meaning of the individual characters is 'tree-rabbit', the combination is apprehended as a single unit meaning 'eared owl', and can thus be read either zukuormimi-zuku in Japanese.

2) To complicate matters, Japanese prefers to follow Classical Chinese usage and write 木菟. The difference is the addition of the 'grass' radical 艹 on top of 兔. In Classical Chinese this character was simply an alternative form of 兔. In modern Chinese, however, 菟 (read tù) is strictly used for the 'dodder', a kind of wiry herb that parasitises other plants, and is not used to mean 'rabbit'.

3) Another refinement is the addition of the 'bird' radical (鳥) to the right of 兔 in order to indicate that the 木兔'tree-rabbit' is actually a type of bird. This results in the alternative form 木鵵'tree owl'.

5) Two other character combinations can be used to write mimi-zuku: 鴟鵂 and 角鴟, both based on Chinese names. 鴟鵂chīxiū is a name used for the owls in general; 角鴟jiǎo-chī means 'horned-owl'. The character 鴟chī originally meant 'hawk' in Chinese but is now used for 'owl'. (In Japanese it is traditionally read tobi meaning 'kite'.)

As a result, ズクzuku can be written 木菟, 木兔, 木鵵, 鴟鵂, or 角鴟. ミミズクmimi-zuku can theoretically be written 木菟, 木兔, 木鵵, 耳木菟, 耳木兔, 耳木鵵, 鴟鵂, or 角鴟.

CULTURAL

In Japanese haiku, mimi-zuku or zuku (木菟) are season words for winter.

鹫鱼鸮(鷲魚鴞)jiù yú-xiāo'eagle fish-owl' (鹫/鷲 is traditionally used for both eagles and vultures)角鸱(角鴟)jiǎo-chī'horned-owl'(FS)怪鸱(怪鴟)guài-chī'strange-owl'(FS)老兔(老兔)lǎo-tù'old rabbit'(FS)恨狐(恨狐)hèn hú'hate fox'(FS)鹫兔鸟(鷲兔鳥)jiù-tù-niǎo'eagle rabbit' (鹫/鷲 is traditionally used for both eagles and vultures)鹫兔(鷲兔)jiù-tù'eagle rabbit' (鹫/鷲 is traditionally used for both eagles and vultures)(FS)